Swedes versus Aqua-Sphere Mask

This article investigates the effects of swimming eyewear on speed.  Many triathletes use the Aqua-Sphere mask because it makes them feel more comfortable in the water.  Conversely, many competitive swimmers wear Swedish goggles and have done so for decades.  But, how much of a difference does goggle choice really make?  It may seem like Swedes should be a clear winner because of their smaller size.  However, it could also be that an Aqua-Sphere could allow faster times because it traps air under the surface that could add to buoyancy.  There might not be any difference at all.

Aqua-Sphere masks do get a bad rap with swimmers.  I must admit that prior to this experiment I had never given a single thought to trying one out.  I’m not going to waste a lot of space repeating everything I have heard about Aqua-Sphere masks.  Opinions drive me crazy, which is what motivated me to write this article.  If Aqua-Sphere masks deserve the criticism, then they should be proven to make you slower.  If they don’t slow you down, then they are still viable if they are more comfortable than anything else out there.  If masks allow you to go faster, then everybody should be wearing them, period.  You just never know how you will swim in a mask until you give them a fair chance.

I must disclose that I have used Swedes continuously since 1987, or 21 years.  I have never tried to swim fast with another goggle type in that time.  It is tough to be sure how much of an impact this had on my observations and results.  Obviously, I will find the Swedes more comfortable than the Aqua-Sphere.  For this reason, my observations focus on the Aqua-Sphere.  I cover Swedes in more detail in another article.  Fortunately, you don’t need to see a lot in a 25-meter sprint in a pool, as no flip-turns or sighting is required.  So, goggle comfort should not affect results a lot.  All I can say is that I tried my best regardless of eyewear worn to see which one is really the best.

The test involved a total of eight 25-yard sprints, as fast as possible.  The test subject (Duane Dobko) alternated 1 repeat wearing Swedish goggles and 1 repeat wearing the Aqua-Sphere mask.  Pictures of each goggle type are shown in the Figure.  Times were measured by manual stopwatch to 0.00 second resolution.  Ten minutes minimum rest was taken between each repeat in order to ensure full recovery.  A Speedo Fast-skin swimsuit was worn throughout the experiment.

After all repeats were completed and analyzed, the experiment could not determine a winner.  The difference in swimming times of Swedes versus Aqua-Sphere was not statistically significant.  This means one of two things.  Either the experiment did not have enough data to determine a winner, or goggle type doesn’t have an impact on speed.  It is unlikely that either goggle type has a huge advantage over the other, even if more data was gathered.  The evidence for this is the overlap in the data:  the fastest 2 sprints with the Aqua-Sphere mask were faster than then slowest 2 sprints with Swedish goggles.  The data and results are shown in the Figure below.

So, how did the eyewear compare in ease and comfort?  Before the experiment, I thought a mask would bull-doze through the water, which did occur during warm-up.  At slow speeds, I even felt my head being pulled to the side as the water pulled the mask around.  However, the effect went away when swimming fast.  The difference is likely due to head positioning.  When swimming fast, I tilt my head slightly up, which also tilts the mask so that water flows across the face.  At slow speeds, water flowed over the blunt top. 

When sprinting at full speed, the mask did have the odd effect of creating a backflow of water in between the eyes, sending water straight up my nose like a jet.  The effect went away when I slowed down but was unbearable when swimming at speeds in excess of 1.8 meters per second.  For most triathletes, this won’t matter as open-water swims are typically much slower.  Even elite athletes struggle to swim a half mile in the open water at speeds greater than 1.3 meters per second.  I resolved the issue by wearing a nose plug, which I wear in most races anyways.  I cannot tell if this is an effect everyone will experience.  My eyes are very close together and my nose is narrow compared to most people.  If your eyes and nose are nose are more typical, maybe you won’t have the same issue. 

Vision was very different with the mask compared to Swedes.  I could see distant objects well with the mask, but closer objects were blurred.  Maybe this is because I’m so used to Swedes which have a flat surface and not used to looking through a curved surface like the Aqua-Sphere.  The effect went away when looking above the water with the mask, but it was very pronounced whenever I looked at objects under the water.  This effect would make me nervous about using a mask in an open water swim, where it is very important to clearly see objects in your immediate vicinity, like flying arms and kicking legs of your competitors.

Initially, I found that the Aqua-Sphere mask leaked from the sides.  It didn’t seem to matter how tight I set the strap.  It appeared the water was coming from the top corners but was flowing through on the sides.  I resolved this problem by tucking the top of the mask underneath my swim cap.  After this I could wear the mask with very little suction without leaks.  Even swimming sprint 25s under 11 seconds did not cause leaks.  However, this setup made it difficult to wipe away fog from the inside before the start of every repeat.  It wasn’t that big of a deal, but with Swedes I’m used to wiping away any trace of fog in the final seconds before a race starts.  Because I’ve tucked the top of the mask under my cap, this was not possible.

Overall, the experiment was not successful at detecting a difference in speed when wearing Swedish goggles versus an Aqua-Sphere mask.  This means that there could be a difference, but it is likely small. Many observations were made about the Aqua-Sphere mask in this article.  But, it is not possible to tell if these views are universal or only applicable to long-time users of Swedes.  I’ve done my best to fully disclose my perspectives both before and after the experiment so you can make up your own mind on the results.  The experiment should not motivate you to switch eyewear in your next open-water swimming race.  Instead, pick eyewear that is comfortable for you and what makes you the most confident on race day.  Until next time, happy training.